Wednesday 11 January 2012

Book Review - A Year Without Autumn

Title: A Year Without Autumn
Author: Liz Kessler
Publisher: Orion Childrens
Release Date: 7 April 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1842555866

Synopsis
If you could see into the future - would you look? Jenni Green doesn't have a choice. On her way to visit her best friend, Autumn, Jenni suddenly finds she's been transported exactly one year forward in time. Now she discovers that in the year that's gone by, tragedy has struck and her friendship with Autumn will never be the same again. But what caused the tragedy? How did Jenni skip a year? And can she find her way back to the past to try to change what lies ahead? With humour - and her customary light touch - the author of the EMILY WINDSNAP books plays a fascinating game with time, and explores the changes that take place in friendships and families in the aftermath of a disaster.

My Review
I won a copy of this on 'Girls <3 Books' blog ages ago but put it to one side as I had a mountain of other books to read. Every year at the library we do a 'Book of the Year' event where we have to read 6 books then vote for the best, this year this book is on the list. They are all Children's/Middle Grade books. 
I thought I had better start reading the nominated books and as I had my own copy of this I thought it would be a good place to start.
Jenni and her family always go to the same place on holiday, organized little condo's where activities are planned and there is nice places to go walking, and best of all she gets to see her best friend Autumn. In the main building complex there are two lifts, one that everyone uses and one that has been broken for years, but one day Jenni is waiting for the lift and the old one whirs into life, so she takes it, but when she steps out 1 floor up she discovers she has gone 1 year into the future and life has changed drastically. She needs to figure out how to get back and change everything that's gone wrong.
 I thought this book sounded quite exciting, different and intriguing and I was looking forward to reading it. I started it this morning and finished it at about four this afternoon, it's only 245 pages and easy to read font.
I liked Jenni as a character and the air of mystery in the book was good, I liked how the girls relationship changes as the events influence them, but there were also moments where I was disappointed something happened, or one of them said something that caused more problems.
There were bits of this book I found myself really getting into and rather enjoying but there were also bits where I started to skim read a little bit, waiting for something to happen again. I liked the conclusion of the book and was glad with the outcome, but there was also a continuation question that arised which i can't say here because it would ruin the storyline and conclusion - major spoiler, but it just didn't make total sense to me.
I'm not trying to be negative and it was a sweet little book, as I say there were quite a few parts that I really did enjoy and I liked the narrative style, it just didn't wow me. 

My Rating
 

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